Page 95 of Beneath Her Skin

Judith carries all these thoughts around as she watches Gloria and crafts her plan for dispatching with Kenneth. Her memories, her grandfather’s lessons. Kenneth doesn’t deserve a quick death.

On the fourth night, halfway through Kenneth’s trip, the phone rings, harsh and jangling. Judith and Gloria are eating a little dinner in the formal dining room, the chandelier lights turned low and glimmering. Judith never serves Kenneth in here unless it’s a special occasion, like the night she told him she was pregnant. But she likes seeing Gloria in the soft hazy light, likes hearing the clink of the elegant china that had been a wedding gift from Kenneth’s parents.

“Oh my God.” Gloria’s nervous energy zaps the air like a bolt of electricity. “Jesus Christ, that scared me.”

“It’s him,” Judith says, and Gloria immediately goes still, all the color draining out of her face. “He said he was going to call tonight.”

“You’re not going to answer it, are you?” Real fear flickers across Gloria’s expression, and Judith hates the quiver of excitement she gets when she sees it.

“I have to.” The phone is still jangling in the background. “We don’t want him to suspect anything.”

Gloria stares at her, her hand trembling so her spoon chimes against the bowl, as Judith rises out of the dining room and slips into the hallway, where the phone waits in a little nook on the wall.

“Vale residence,” she says smoothly.

“Judith! How’s the baby?”

His voice is clear and calm, the way it always is. Even knowing what she knows, she can’t hear the killer in him.

“We’re fine,” she says, touching her belly on instinct. God, this isn’t what she wanted. She wanted to benormal.

Now her baby has two killers for parents, it seems.

“How’s the groundbreaking?” she asks.

“It’s going really well, actually. No major issues so far—fingers crossed. I’m on track to be back home on Saturday like I planned.”

A creak at the end of the hall. Judith looks up to see Gloria step around the corner, fear radiating off her. Kenneth is still talking, going on about a meeting with the clients, but Judith barely hears him. Gloria’s fear strikes some strange, wifely instinct in her. She doesn’t want Gloria afraid, at least not of Kenneth. She wants her strong. She wants herviolent.

“—the snowstorm?” Kenneth says.

Judith forces herself to focus, aware that Kenneth is asking her a question. “I’m sorry, dear? I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I asked if you survived the snowstorm.” Kenneth chuckles, and the line crackles. “No power outages, nothing like that? I read in the paper that it was worse than they thought.”

“Ah, of course. No, everything’s fine. We didn’t lose power.”

Gloria steps closer, her arms crossed protectively over her chest. Judith smiles at her, trying to be reassuring. But Gloria keeps staring at the phone as if she’s afraid Kenneth might reach through the receiver.

“That’s good, darling. I’ll see you soon, yes?”

“On Saturday.” Judith looks at Gloria when she says it. “Yes, dear.”

He says his goodbyes, his I love yous, and Judith says them back with a smile so he’ll hear it through the phone. As soon as she hangs up, it vanishes.

Gloria is still at the end of the hallway, looking like she’s trying to pull inside herself. Judith goes to her, and Gloria doesn’t flinch away, although she does give Judith a frightened, baffled look.

“How can you act so normal with him?” She presses against the wall.

“I told you,” Judith says. “He has to think everything’s normal for this to work.”

Gloria shakes her head, worry creasing her brow. “How can you be so damn calm about it? How can you not—” She cuts off and pushes her hands through her hair. “How can youpretend?—”

“Because that’s what needs to be done,” Judith sharply.

Judith moves closer to Gloria, expecting her to flee. She doesn’t, although she lifts her chin a little, trying to be brave. It’s endearing.

“I still don’t understand it,” Gloria says in a small voice. “How someone like you?—”

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